What do Michael Strahan and ITAD have in Common?

Michael Strahan is a pro football hall-of-famer who set the NFL record for most sacks in a single season and led the NY Giants to a Super Bowl victory. Off the field, Strahan has become a media celebrity co-hosting Live with Kelly and Michael, and Fox NFL Sunday.

What do Michael Strahan and ITAD have in Common? Both have big gaps, but the similarities seem to end there.

Strahan is known for his outrageously large gap between his front teeth. IT asset disposition (ITAD) has an equally large, but not so well-known gap. Our gap is between what a company believes was retired and what can be proven.

Strahan, who makes a reported $16M per year, could easily afford to fix his teeth, but he refuses. He prefers to be known as the ‘Smiling Giant’ and proudly displays his gap as part of his fun-loving personality.

One reasons for Strahan’s popularity seems to be his authenticity. When Strahan says, “I don’t want to try to be perfect,” we naturally like him and believe him. His authenticity brings him credibility.

Strahan refuses to let his “imperfections” stand in the way of his success. Those of us involved with ITAD often seem reluctant to display our imperfections or even acknowledge a gap. Our “imperfections” go unnoticed, and worse, unappreciated.

ITAM should take a page from Strahan’s play book. We should stop pretending to be perfect.

Unlike Strahan, we must fix our gap.

The ITAD Reporting Gap represents missing links in the chain-of-custody. This must be acknowledged to be appreciated. We must become comfortable with the imperfections and the ITAD Reporting Gap so we can manage them effectively.

Companies can suffer catastrophic consequences when imperfections go unnoticed. Efforts to mask our imperfections can result in a costly privacy breach if we fail to implement requisite safeguards.

Of course, Strahan’s confidence may come from being 6’5” and freakishly talented. Our confidence must come from our community.

As professional IT asset managers, we should not be ashamed of our gap. Instead, we must acknowledge the gap in order to show how our talent, training, and tools can be the solution.